Should You Avoid Kimball International Inc (KBAL)?

Since Kimball International Inc (NASDAQ:KBAL) has experienced a declination in interest from the entirety of the hedge funds we track, we can see that there is a sect of fund managers who were dropping their full holdings by the end of the third quarter. Interestingly, Richard S. Meisenberg’s ACK Asset Management dumped the biggest stake of all the hedgies followed by Insider Monkey, worth close to $5.1 million in stock, and Peter Muller’s PDT Partners was right behind this move, as the fund dropped about $0.5 million worth of shares. These bearish behaviors are important to note, as total hedge fund interest fell by 2 funds by the end of the third quarter.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Kimball International Inc (NASDAQ:KBAL) but similarly valued. We will take a look at Landauer, Inc. (NYSE:LDR), Spok Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:SPOK), Jive Software Inc (NASDAQ:JIVE), and Powell Industries, Inc. (NASDAQ:POWL). This group of stocks’ market valuations resemble Kimball International Inc (NASDAQ:KBAL)’s market valuation.

As you can see, these stocks had an average of 10 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $42 million. That figure was $25 million in Kimball International Inc (NASDAQ:KBAL)’s case. Jive Software Inc (NASDAQ:JIVE) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand, Landauer, Inc. (NYSE:LDR) is the least popular one with only 7 bullish hedge fund positions. Kimball International Inc (NASDAQ:KBAL) is not the least popular stock in this group, but hedge fund interest is still below average. This is a slightly negative signal and we’d rather spend our time researching stocks that hedge funds are piling on. In this regard, Jive Software Inc (NASDAQ:JIVE) might be a better candidate to consider a long position.